Kingston band has warm spot for Disney World

By Pauline LiuTimes Herald-Record

Monday

Feb 2, 2015 at 7:01 PMFeb 2, 2015 at 7:01 PM

KINGSTON - Talk about great timing. The Kingston High School Tiger Marching Band was more than 1,100 miles away at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on Monday as winter storm Linus bore down on the mid-Hudson, forcing all public schools to close.

The storm dumped more than a foot of snow on some portions of Kingston and brought bone-chilling temperatures in the teens.

Meanwhile, the group of 160 KHS students, teachers and chaperones gleefully took in temperatures that hovered around 75 degrees. So what if it was cloudy?

The main reason for the marching band's trip was to star in its own Disney show on Sunday. Under the guidance of KHS musical directors Stephen Garner and Jeffrey Giebelhaus, the 121-member band paraded through the Magic Kingdom and entertained hundreds of visitors.

"The kids are just ecstatic to be there and my son is having a great time," said Tara Rogerson, whose 16-year-old son, Mitchell, plays the French horn. "The kids will be shocked to come back and see how winter proceeded without them."

To get there, the group needed three Southwest Airlines flights from Albany, said district spokeswoman Kathryn Heidecker.

The four-day stay cost each student about $700, said Heidecker. The students' fund-raising efforts included sales of snacks, Yankee Candles and books; barbecues; car washes and recycling.

The students participated in a Saturday workshop at Disney World, where they practiced Disney favorites.

Sydney Miller, a freshman French horn player, found the experience fun and surprising.

"Overall, the music we played was not as difficult as what we are used to in band class," said Miller, who isn't missing winter at all but will face it when he and his classmates return Tuesday.

Wintry weather has caused some mid-Hudson school districts to use up many of the snow or "emergency days" built into their school calendar. The state requires students to receive a minimum of 180 days of instruction each school year.

Kingston has just two emergency days left. Elementary school students in Marlboro are down to just one after a water main break, said interim superintendent Joe DiLorenzo.

Newburgh also has one remaining emergency day, before the district may have "to start taking away from our March conference day and/or Spring recess," said superintendent Roberto Padilla.

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